Climate42, a consultancy that specialises in agricultural weather, has reported that the weather conditions in West Africa are contributing to conditions that could see a resurgence of black pod disease. The dreaded pathogen which causes the condition can survive long dry spells, according to the company.
Should the wet conditions continue until November, it might pose a serious threat to the late crop because infected pods will stay on the trees longer, allowing the pathogen to spread even more – Climate42
Possibly aligned to this worrying observation is a prediction from a number of analysts, according to Reuters, that cocoa production from the West African countries, is set to drop during the main harvest season which starts in October and runs through to March 2022.
If this happens, it will be interesting to note if the reduced supply and recovering economy, will push prices higher.
Meanwhile, we separately got invited to an event called ‘Price and Climate Drivers for Cocoa Production’, run by the FCC, and noted that the Head Researcher / Climatologist for Climate42 will be talking. Check out our events page for details on the free webinar.
